Following a dominant victory in week one at home, the Browns are riding high on their emotions. However, they can’t afford to rest on their success, as another challenging divisional matchup awaits, this time on the road. I put together three key components that will be vital for securing another win and maintaining the high spirits in Cleveland.
1. Pass protection
After loosing Jack Conklin to a torn ACL, Dawand Jones will make his debut as the starting right takle against a very dangerous Steelers pass rush. In the limited snaps we’ve seen from him, he has shown promise in pass protection, using his long arms effectively to engage with pass rushers. Up to this point, he hasn’t allowed a single sack in preseason or the regular season. However, he hasn’t faced a player of T.J. Watt’s caliber in his career yet, and as a rookie, I fully expect him to lose some reps against one of the NFL’s premiere pass rushers. Aditionally, the Browns won’t be able to provide him with unconditional support in pass protection, as left tackle Jedrick Wills has had his own struggles, and protecting Watson’s blind side will be a top priority. The Pittsburgh defense is very well-coached, and they will do whatever it takes to create favorable matchups for their pass rushers. It’s on Cleveland to make that as difficult as possible. On a more optimistic note, with Cam Heyward missing the game due to injury, I’m not too concerned about interior pressure. The key to a productive game from Watson in this hostile environment will be containing Watt and Highsmith.
2. Establish an early lead
Taking a closer look at the Steelers’ week one result, the Browns should aim to replicate the 49ers’ game plan as closely as possible. In that particular matchup, the Steelers abandoned the run game fairly quickly after falling behind 20-0 midway through the second quarter. Trying to chase this deficit, the Steelers were consistently forced into obvious passing situations, which allowed the 49ers pass rushers to pin their ears back and get after Kenny Pickett. While few pass rushes can match the caliber of San Francisco’s, the Cleveland Browns are one of them. Additionally, this would enable the Browns to rely on their own running game if the already mentioned Steelers’ pass rush is too much to handle for their offensive tackles. Especially if the Browns were to be without Amari Cooper, making Nick Chubb the focal point of the offense would relieve some of the pressure on Watson who is still not back to his old self yet and won’t have an easy time against this Steeler’s crowd. If the Browns can establish control over this game early and put together a few time-consuming scoring drives, I like their chances in the second divisional matchup of this young season.
3. Go the extra mile!
Anyone who ever watched this particular matchup knows that it demands toughness, discipline and resilience to win this game. On paper the Browns might be the clear favorite, but football isn’t played on paper. Time has shown that any Steelers team coached by Mike Tomlin must be taken very seriously, as he has not experienced a single losing season in his 16 years as the Steelers’ head coach. Despite missing some key players, this Pittsburgh team still has a lot of talent and will be fueled by the emotions stemming from their blowout loss to San Francisco in week one. Winning this game will require a wholehearted effort from everyone, both on and off the field, for a full 60 minutes. Starting the season and the divisional series 2-0, including a win on the road, would be significant for the Browns on their path to the playoffs.
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